Letter to the Editor: Trust in the President

Seeing the war protesters on television I wonder what it is that they see, that I do not, or can not see. I wonder if they are right. Is it wiser to trust that Saddam Hussein will not use his weapons of mass destruction, or to trust our President? For myself the answer is simple. I will trust our President.

When I look at the war protesters they remind me of the balloons and stuffed animals left at the makeshift memorials that turn up after every tragedy. They are full of symbolism and hot air but lack substance and offer no solutions. I believe many of the protesters, particularly the Hollywood actors, are simply disappointed that they are not old enough to have participated in the riots and anti-war demonstrations of the sixties. So they jump for any cause that allows them to be "radical."

It seems the only solution the protesters offer is that it would be better to contain Saddam Hussein than to invade and dispose of him and his government. I believe containment has not, and will not work. It shows no concern for the troops. The troops do not want to sit in the desert away from their families for years and let Saddam's game with the inspectors control their fate. Containment would take our military off the offensive and put it on the defensive, leaving it extremely vulnerable to chemical, biological, and nuclear attack. The military should not be wasted or misused in this way.

For myself, supporting war and the removal of Saddam Hussein is an easy choice, people demand a smoking gun and I think of the World Trade Center with its two smoking towers. I think of over 3000 people dead, their only crime, being American, or being on American soil and going to work that day. I think of the father who wandered around Manhattan for weeks looking for his young daughter- refusing to believe she was gone from his family's life forever. I think of the young child who is scared because he can't remember the sound of his mother's or father's voice, or worse he can remember and knows he will never hear it again. I think of the husband or wife left to live their lives alone, their last memories of loved ones, being the frantic calls from cell phones. I remember the first attack on the World Trade Center. I remember the attacks on our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. I remember our men and women in uniform being murdered at Khobar Towers barracks and the USS Cole. I remember that President Clinton talked tough, but did little to back it up with real force. I remember that our lack of any real action undoubtedly emboldened the terrorists and the countries that sponsor them.

I believe President Bush is showing the same type of courage as the people on board Flight # 93. Once they learned what had happened with the other hijacked planes, they took action. They did not bicker with each other and fret weather they had enough evidence to prove that their plane would be used as a missile like the others. Common sense told them it would be and they acted on that belief. Because of this courage and decisiveness, there are possibly hundreds or thousands of people alive today who could have been killed in another attack.

It is our Presidents duty, which I believe he understands well, to follow through with war against Iraq and any other country that aids or harbors terrorists. We do not need to wait until we are attacked again. The attacks of September 11, were enough and they could pale in comparison to the next attack on our country. If we have learned anything in the last decade it is that appeasement does not and will not work. War is a hard choice and must not be taken lightly, however it is sometimes the safest choice.

War will not guarantee that we will not be attacked again, but it will guarantee that our enemies will understand that they can no longer attack and harm us with impunity.